Hey!
So I signed up to Steemit the other day, and I've already posted/spammed (sorry) a few of my videos on here, but I quickly realised I was doing things wrong. Like, totally wrong.
Consider this my 'official' introduction post — we can also use it as an 'Ask Me Anything' (AMA) if you'd like.
I'm powered up, so I'll happily upvote any question or comment that interests me or gets me thinking!
A Bit of Background
My name is Luke, I'm 25 and live in the UK. As the title says, I'm a former professional gambler.
I'd like to clarify two probable misconceptions about what that means:
Firstly, 'former' does not mean that I lost everything and went broke. I absolutely hammered this for a few years and, truth is, I just completely burned myself out.
The second misconception about my choice of 'ex-professional gambler' phrasing is the word gambler implying that I was taking risks.
I'm fully aware that what I'm about to say sounds like a huge scam, so stay with me here...I was using a risk-free betting technique (genuinely) to ensure small, steady profits without ever risking my own funds. I'm not going to try to convince you to think otherwise if you have doubts — I'm not here to promote it in any way.
In my busiest week of the year, which was in the Cheltenham horse racing festival that takes place each March, I would place just shy of 1,000 bets across 30-40 different bookmakers. I was spending around 15 hours a day placing bets online or preparing for the next day of racing. It was always highly profitable, but I also developed RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) in my neck/shoulder that still pains me to this day — I'm only young, but feel like I've got the body of an old man!
Whilst other weeks were quiet in comparison to the Cheltenham Festival, the job was still a repetitive chore of searching and clicking for hours on end.
Not only was I doing this for myself, but I was also teaching thousands of people how to do the same (for free) via my website:
Looking back now, I'm surprised I didn't burn out even faster; I was spending virtually every hour that I was awake either placing bets, or teaching other people how to.
Enough about all of that, I'd much rather talk about my new project with you.
Brand New Journey...Full Steem Ahead!
Over the last year or so, I've been moving my betting profits into the world of cryptocurrency.
...But I didn't just want to become a passive investor in this rapidly growing space.
My passion for teaching people new information and new skills in a beginner-friendly way has led me to start a website and a YouTube channel.
I intend on providing plenty of unique content for the Steem community, too.
I'd love for you to follow me here on Steemit, which I think is a really great platform, and you should do so if you're interested in anything cryptocurrency, marketing or internet related.
If you could subscribe to me on YouTube then that'd be awesome too.
I'll be giving upvotes to any particularly interesting questions or comments, and you should do the same!
What do you want to know about? Some potential topics:
Gambling
Sports
Cryptocurrency
Digital Marketing (the industry I most like talking about outside of crypto!)
YouTube
Other: honestly, ask whatever the f*** you want!
I want to hear from you, don't be shy :)
Hi there, @descryptive!
So far, you've done several things right. You admitted that you don't know it all when it comes to Steemit! In fact, many of us are still learning the best ways to share our content and interact with other users across the platform. I'm sure you'll be able to figure out the best ways to share your videos as you spend more time here.
You also took the time to make a verification image! That's a big part of establishing yourself as a great content creator, so I applaud your efforts so far.
I always give the same advice to all new Steemians, so I'll leave these tips here for you in hopes that they will help you along the way.
Familiarize yourself with the way the platform works by browsing the FAQs.
Check out the Steemit Etiquette Guide for tips on how to interact with others in the community and how to introduce yourself to everyone.
If you'd like some advice on how to make your posts great, take a look at this guide I posted about polishing your posts.
Finally, when it comes to commenting, check out this guide that will get you on the road to becoming a comment expert!
Also, if you're interested in plugging into a community that focuses on supporting its members and curating great content, look no further than The Unmentionables. Come check us out!
The rest is up to you, and I believe you'll have plenty to offer the community, so best wishes and happy Steeming!
Hey Ethan, thanks for the intro! I've taken a look at your curation group and submitted an application too. I'm still learning about Steem so the curation side isn't something I'm familiar with currently, but look forward to learning more.
Glad you checked us out! Curation is a fun aspect of the platform that becomes more relevant once your voting power is higher. We use our group account to help curate the posts of our members so that they can get more publicity. There's a lot to learn, but it looks like you'd be a great addition to our group. I'll be reviewing applications soon.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to checking out some of your gambling info. I've typically stayed as far away from gambling as I can, but that won't stop me from learning about how other people approach it.
Cool, look forward to chatting to you more in the Discord group (if I get in of course!).
The gambling technique requires access to a betting exchange, and I just found your website in your bio and noticed that you're from the US. Sadly, there aren't any betting exchanges in the US (that I'm aware of). But I'll tell you the basics anyway as they are pretty simple. You bet on an outcome and bet against that outcome on another site (so you have both teams covered in an NFL game for example). You only do this when a bookmaker is offering a free bet or bonus. This means that regardless of who wins the match, you'll essentially be given free money (in the form of a bonus). You can then use a simple calculator to guarantee a profit on the bonus. Trying to give as lighthearted of an overview as possible here, I hope it makes some sense — as I say in the welcome post, I wasn't looking to promote the technique at all...I've done more than enough of that over the years!
Well in that case, it will be interesting to read about your blog topics knowing you have a background in gambling. I suppose it makes sense I hadn't heard of this since I'm from the US.
Anyhow, it's my pleasure to invite you to be a part of our group. Unfortunately, we're still working out the details on how to best invite people, so if you're already on Discord, send a friend request to ethandsmith and I'll PM you the link to our server. Alternatively, you can message ethandsmith on steemit.chat and I'll do the same. Let me know if you have trouble!
Welcome to Steemit! How did you find out about this place? I just recently got back into the crypto world (I still can't stop kicking myself in the ass for spending the $100 worth of BTC I had back in 2011 instead of hanging onto it), and I am so eager to learn as much as I can about the current crypto world, so I am following you because I feel like I can learn so much from reading your posts and being friends with you! Since you're just starting out on here, the best advice I can give you is to come check out the @MinnowSupport Project on Discord.
You will find so many resources to help you get started on Steemit and get your foot in the door, and you'll make some good friends on here who will help you to grow. Click on the animated banner below for more information! :) I look forward to seeing you around!
Hey, thanks for the welcome! I couldn't help but seeing Steemit mentioned all over YouTube and the crypto world in general, so it just made sense to hit the sign up button a few days back :)
I was never fortunate (or unfortunate enough, hearing all the 'nearly' moments!) to have an opportunity to invest in crypto until recently really. So no big "if only I'd held!" feelings, just happy to be involved the space now. I've held Ethereum for a while, have been investing in alts for a little less time but have plenty in my portfolio.
Nice! It's great to have you on here, I can definitely learn so much from conversing with you! :) I'm really looking forward to seeing more posts from you! I hope you'll check out MSP as well :D
Hi! Welcome to Steemit (and #theunmentionables)! Were you living in an apartment while you were gambling, or living at home with your parents? What did you family think of your gambling job? I'm just wondering as I've never met a professional (ex) gambler. :) It's interesting that you were teaching others how to do it and it was so profitable you ended up having some to invest in crypto. Nice. Anyway, just wanted to stop by and say welcome. :) (And I like your name even though I was the one who was so confused in the general chat about what your name was! Ha!)
Hey! Thanks for commenting :)
I had moved out of my mom's house maybe ~6 months before I learned about it, and it was an absolute Godsend! My girlfriend was at university at the time, so it helped to pay the bills for both of us nicely. My family were actually really supportive! My mom gave me a loan at one point to scale up slightly, so yeah, they had my back!
Lol! Sounds supportive to me! ;)
Welcome to Steemit. I am new too I just signed up last year though. My question to you is let's assume If I am not rich and I am kind of broke, which crypto is right for me to hold for some time so that I can profit after say 1 or 2 years?
Hey! If you are kind of broke, I wouldn't advise investing at all. You should only invest what you can afford to lose :)
Thanks. That's why I took the steem route for time being :)
That seems sensible to me, your photography looks brilliant!
Thank you much appreciated :)
Hey! Welcome! Great intro post ;)
I have a question for you. I am a creative writer not a coder, like *at all. I am creating a game app, coders are being provided for the graphics, etc, I'm just creating the world and story. What do you feel is the best free marketing platform for this?
Hey :)
That sounds really interesting! But it's outside of my knowledge to offer any advice I'm afraid. My experience is in driving traffic, specifically via Google and other search engines. Sorry!
Will, driving traffic is definitely an element that would be helpful in this as well :)
Feel free to message me on Discord at any point if you needed specific advice about that sorta stuff. I love geeking out about Google, it's quite embarrassing really!
Welcome to Steemit Luke! It is great to have you here. I am very new here myself. One thing I could recommend is to utilize all of your tags. I just happened to notice you only used "introduceyourself" on this post and you could have added 4 more. You may already know this and it could just be an oversight but thought I would just mention it. :) Again welcome, I am really looking forward to your posts.
Thanks for the tip! I've tried to edit the post and add some more, I hope it works...although probably too late!
Your welcome.
Welcome Luke, glad to finally see you on Steemit! Such a great community here.
I've known Luke for a few years now and we've worked on several projects together. I know he's put a load of effort into this new channel, so best of luck with it!
Hey dude, thanks for the support!
Hello Luke,
The ponies are a bunch of work , and the people on the backside of them may not give the ride the horse is capable of, so investors (gamblers) hard work often ends up in loosing tickets and frustration.
I don't know anything about crypto & ICO's but I'm willing to see your perspective and listen to your thoughts, count me in as a follower.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
#unmentionables
Thanks for the comment! Well, if you had any questions related to those subjects, you're more than welcome to comment or message me about them at any time. Speak soon!
Thank's Luke. I am sure I will have plenty of questions as I navigate this new world for me of cyrpto currencies.
Welcome to SteemIt! Please give me a follow!
Hi, friend. Welcome to Steemit. How are you doing. Feel free to explore, make friends and enjoy steeming. @greatness96
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Welcome to Steemit Luke.
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